When students living on-campus return from winter break to face a new semester, they’ll also be coming back to new Nite Owl options.

Due to changes decided upon by both Sodexo Dining Services and the Student Culinary Council (SCC), Nite Owls will now only be open in the Chenango Champlain Collegiate Center (C4) and Appalachian Dining Centers beginning spring semester. The Hinman and College-in-the-Woods Nite Owls will no longer operate, but the convenience stores in these locations and in Appalachian will remain open.

Casey Slocum, the marketing coordinator for Sodexo, said the decision to reform Nite Owl comes from long wait times at each Nite Owl after prices were changed from retail to residential rates last year. Now, after serving over 600 to 900 sales a night, Sodexo is hoping to employ more staff in the two larger locations to better serve students.

Slocum said that Sodexo originally brought the plan to the SCC and then to Residential Life. After the groups showed support, the idea was proposed to each Community Council, RA Council and Area Leaders.

“The response was supportive and understanding,” Slocum wrote in an email. “We are confident that the students’ dining experience will be more positive with increased menu variety, better service and additional study or meeting spaces being made available with the additional seating.”

According to Ryan Sheppard, the SCC vice president for residential dining and a senior double-majoring in accounting and geography, the new Nite Owls will feature classic menu options, such as chicken fingers, curly fries, mozzarella sticks and mac and cheese bites, and also alternate every three days between a quesadilla and burrito bar, a pancake bar and a chicken wing bar. New additions also include a Wellness Bar with grilled chicken or salmon, brown rice and steamed veggies, a salad bar, a Boars Head Sandwich station, a milkshake and smoothie station and a beverage section.

Students like Sarah Russ-Clar, an undeclared sophomore, say the prospect of fewer Nite Owls might be counterproductive by creating longer lines and more packed spaces.

“Nite Owl will potentially be more crowded than before because you are trying to pack the same amount of people into less space,” she said. “I feel like having fewer Nite Owls is more of a hassle than having to wait in line for a little bit.”

Carolina Herrera, a sophomore majoring in philosophy, politics and law, said that she looks forward to the possibility of a better Nite Owl, but would rather she didn’t have to leave her community of College-in-the-Woods to get a late-night snack.

“Maybe this change will be a good thing,” Herrera said. “I think it has potential to be something cool, but it’s just discouraging that I’ll have to leave my community late at night.”

Sheppard said that Sodexo and the SCC will observe the changes as the semester progresses and asks for student feedback about what they think.

“We’re aware that students aren’t always a fan of change, so we tried to make this change really positive for students,” Sheppard wrote in an email. “We think they will love it and if they don’t, we can easily change it back to the way things were before. It wouldn’t be fair of us to not give an option that could make students happier a shot.”

C4 Nite Owl hours will be 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. from Sunday to Thursday. Appalachian Nite Owl will be open from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, and from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. from Sunday to Thursday.